First Option Mortgage

Awful company

First Option Mortgage RAISED our fees at closing with NO notification or authorization. We were told by Josh Fitzwater to close the loan and he would see what he could do.

In the beginning we were told we would have fees of $2, 600. All fees and schedules were listed in all the documentation that we signed. How ever the day we were to close we were asked to resign documents with higher fees totaling over $8, 000. This company tried to tell us they were a good company that they were not a broker and that they are a bank. So we felt like we made a good decision. I should have known when we went in to the appointment at 8888 Keystone Crossing, Ste. 900 Indianapolis, IN 46240 that we were about to be taken advantage of. I have closed on several loans in my 20 years of home ownership and I was not about to let them do this to me and my family.

We never ended up closing on this loan at First Option Mortgage. I would suggest if anyone decides to refinance or buy a home to consult with your local bank or credit union. BANKS AND CREDIT UNIONS DO NOT CHANGE FEES AT CLOSING. Further more I found out First Option Mortgage is a Broker according to the Secretary of the State here in Indiana. They wasted our time and money that we paid for an appraisal out of our own pocket. The appraisal First Option Mortgage had done we could not use because our home was over appraised by them by over $10, 000 and the bank said they could not use it. If we would not have listened to the loan officer from First Option Mortgage and just went with our bank it would have been the much better choice.

Wow! I am blessed to read this and thank so much Ronny for sharing your happened. I made appointment just yesterday to meet this lender-now brokers as you said- for today which I am not going. By the way it happened to me with other brokers and I didn't sign. I really agree what you said "BANKS AND CREDIT UNIONS DO NOT CHANGE FEES AT CLOSING" as I find out from my other friends.
Michael

I couldn't agree more. In the begining they tell you its only 2 to 2500 in total fees. But when its time to close they raise there fees to 8, 000 dollars. Also, pay attention to those fees, as they will rush you to sign them without you noticing them.

It looks like we have been taken in also. After being told every thing was in order as far as being approved with all the paperwork, which took over 6 weeks, all we needed to do is spend $395.00 for an apprasial, which was a piece of crap, we were told we were not approved. $395.00 later we are back where we started. I am not finised with this company, any body with me? This not not right for them to do this to us.

Well, I'm glad that I read these complaints. After trying in vain all week to call their advertised telephone number, I have either been directed to leave voicemails which have not been returned, or to voice mailboxes which are full. I then was going to do their online "application, " but it basically only takes your name, address, and SS number with the message that they will do a credit check and call me back. That raised a red flag because I will not release my SS number and have a credit check done with no further information given me or even a guarantee that anybody will ever call me back. Several links on their website for more information are dead links, so I decided to check out what others are saying about them. Thanks so much to all of you for posting your experiences!

First Option Lending DUBLIN, OH will take every liberty to rip you off. We worked with a woman named Robin Warrens. I personally take the blame first and foremost for not knowing the mortgage business and putting my trust in a person that was fueled by money. When everything was said and done she took us for about $10K in fees, lied about a $350 appraisal fee that was to be returned to us if we financed with them. We were even charged $3300 to buy down a rate, but we later found out that we were only given the PAR rate of 5% at the time and no buy down was ever done. They kept that $3300 as well. It's a shame that people in this business are morally bankrupt like ROBIN WARRENS. No matter what people say...second...third and forth guess them they will do anything and everything to rip you off. STAY AWAY!

I Worked with them for about a year because me credit was bad. Which was my fault but they promised that their credit repair division could fix my credit. Their (credit manager) jordan sent me a list of like 5000 of things I needed to pay of then he submitted electronic disputes. By the way this is not what credit managers do. So after a year they said we were good for a va loan. But could only get 155, 000 due to my 34, 000 in student debt. I know va loans don't work that way. So I started working with another broker who ended up telling me that they has fudged my credit scores to make me elligeable. But if I had actually got the loan and the fraud had been noticed my loan would have come due and I would have lost my families home. How nice that they are willing to gamble with the roof over a families head just so they can make some money. Now I am working with continental credit to actually repair my credit not just make up some fake numbers.

I've been out of the business for years now but it still makes me laugh on how people like to hear what they want to hear.

Loan Officer says: "My fees are $2600"
Borrower hears: "The total amount to do your loan is $2600"
Actual: The loan officer is referring to his/her broker fee(if broker) or origination fee(bank) to do your loan. This fee does not include fees the title company charges to run title work or an appraiser to do an appraisal and so on.

Solution: When someone sits down to get your information(loan, personal, financial) look at the GFE(Good Faith Estimate). This should be filled out pretty well...'estimated' title fees, 'estimated' appraisal, 'estimated' escrow money. The broker fee, at closing, needs to be within 10% of what was originally quoted(most states), if not then you can get awarded the difference...of course after taking your time, paying a lawyer to process, etc. If a broker, the Yield Spread needs to be shown as well...a 'Bank' or 'Credit Union' does not need to show how much they're making from not giving you the lowest rate you qualify for. YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO JUST STOP MAKING PAYMENTS ON YOUR HOME and then blame everyone else in the world for why you foreclosed(govenerment, Bush, greedy CEO's, global warming, etc).

And CAROLONEY, "I'm not finished with this company"...??? You are a typical homeowner that probably thinks your home is worth more than it is and when someone who is a professional ran actual numbers and comparisons to homes that have 'sold' the value came in lower which put you at a more risky level to loan to. For everyone else who MIGHT be reading this here is where common sense needs to kick in.

They tried to do a loan for her, did 6 weeks of work(of which they wont get paid for b/c the loan didn't close), ordered an appraisel expecting a value most likely given to them by her. My previous company we actually went and check 3 different places to see if the borrower's estimate of value was within range...most loan officers dont and this one probably didn't. Loan officers only make money when loans close...he/she wasnt stringing anyone along to make more money...it was a tough loan to get approved and when the appraisal came back lower it kicked them from qualifying, most likely b/c CAROLONEY is at or over needing 100% of the homes value. A borrower with ANY room(equity) in a home that hasn't previously blasted their credit due non-pay would probably find a loan somewhere SO...READ BETWEEN THE LINES. She most likely owes near 100% of her home's value, bad credit, struggles to come up with $395 to improve a situation(loan) on her most prized asset other than her kids and then wants to spend MORE time and money to kick the loan officer, who isn't getting paid, more b/c she blames him/her for her own situation. Gee…her husband must be having fun when the blame game starts up EVERYDAY when he gets home...wonder why I'm not in the business any more???

Long story short, we're all to blame. The thing that needs to happen is keep pushing, keep working, keep helping and keep trying. As for me and why I spent my lunch hour writing this...I'm a dick but atleast I accept what I do is wrong and not project onto others AND back to work I go.

on january 15, 2009 I went Commonwealth land and title insurance company the was bought from fanny may now two years later they are comming after the
money of 7, 675.00 can they do that a lawyer would cost 5, 000 just to start where do i start i thought that was why i used commonwealth insurance co. is
there anyone out there that can help

i already paid the closing cost and tryed to settle for half as it was there mistake they said no this is what they wrote .. when
the file was balanced on january 15, 2009 the erroneous credit was discovered leaving the shortage of 7, 675.00 ...today is
3-10-2011 the golden one credit union said not to pay it the house closed so it is yours, bad advice, i need some good advice
as now i get furlowed 3 days each month it is hard to make ends meet.. thanks for any help you can provide...

I would not recommend First Option Mortgage. Their loan officers are not well trained and sound too much like sales people. After telling my loan officer that we went with Wells Fargo because of the good interest rate and closing costs, he told me they could match all that. Why didn't he offer the lowest costs in the first place as I was thinking to myself? The guy changed his nice tone to me when he knew he lost a sale and also hung up on me. Jerk!

I just had a loan officer from First Option call me, harass me and threaten me because I am holding out on using them to re-fi my mortgage. Scott Swensen from the Edina, MN office. I am now searching the web for people in the company to contact. Time for this guy to get a new job.

I applied for a mortgage there. It shoulda been a red flag but I went to their office and waited for some loan guy named Brady Bales to come out into the office to get me. He smelled like a prostitute with 2$ cologne, had on a chartueuse color shirt, and had cock-a-doodle hair like you'd see on some punk band dude. And he was not of the punk age. Very businesslike no doubt.

Nonethless, his communication skills are lacking, his knowledge of the loan I was going for was a zero and it took him four month to figure that out. I am not impressed with the people nor the processes at first option. Ignore their readio ads!!!

I would NEVER recommend First Option Mortgage. After working with them for nearly an entire year, I have all the same complaints as listed above. I am completely exhausted by this company and of course they will never respond to your negative feed back or when you personally call them out on the trauma they have caused you and your family. They make zero effort to reconcile any issues and they are not straight with you from the beginning. They disappear from communication after you have thrown away money on appraisals, inspections and other costs. Do not take advice from this company to save your own sanity!

I thought this was a reputable company so we applied for a refi with them and was told everything was good when they had their appraiser come out he was totally unknowledgeable about the houses in Alabama because he was from Ga.. We waited over two weeks for them to tell us they couldn't find any comparable houses so they shot our appraisal low and we did not get the loan after over a month of waiting. The bad part is we had our house appraised three years ago and it appraised $30000 higher then so what's up. They need to get a more professional appraisal co. working for them and care more about their customers.

First Option mortgage is the worst lender I've encountered. I have sold real estate for 7 years and have never had such a horrible experience. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY! I have been lied to on an ongoing basis. Once their lies have run out they will blame you even if when are not their client! DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY! Worst lender experience ever! I have worked with all sizes and types. This is by far THE WORST LENDER EVER!

I wish I would have read this before I wasted my money on an Appraisal. I was told from the beginning that they could refinance my home and I laid out the money to get the appraisal. Plus money to fix the house because they wouldn't give me a full appraisal until work was done. Then after everything was said and done my appraisal came back way to low. Now I am out over $1000 and now loan. I would not recommend this company and would tell everyone that I know to not use this company. They are just out to get your money. I am a single mom and didn't have the money to spend in the first place. They assured me that I would get the money back at closing and then not have a payment for two months. That is the only reason I put the money out in the first place. I went over every problem and situation that I have come up with and was told it wouldn't be a problem. I got tones of excuses and in the end was told I couldn't get the loan for reasons I can to them with in the first place that I was told wouldn't be a problem. I don't trust this company and you shouldn't either.

Tried to refinance with them about a year ago and worked with that Scott Swensen guy. He is horrible. Little to my knowledge I'm still finding little trinkets of fees like they want expedited payoff amounts which I was charged $30 a piece for. They are horrible to work with.